Internal-combustion engine.



J. M. WALTON.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLlCATION FILED JAN. 19. 1912.

1,232,632. Patented July 10, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

/ Z" V v fizzy/2%);-

1. WALTON. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I9. IQIZ- 1,232,632. I Patented July 10, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I f x C 1. M. WALTON. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-19.1912.

Patented July 10, 1917.

3 SHkETS-SHEET 3- {QMMMM JOHN M. WALTON, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

INTERN AL-COMBUS'IION ENGINE.

Application filed January 19, 1912.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Bo itknown that I, John M. Wauron, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Orleans, in the L\tate of Louisiana, have invented a certain new and useful improvementin lnternal-Co1nin1stion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and among its objects are the elimination of unnecessary parts and the simplification of the structure of the motor, the provision of a molor of increased efiiciency without increase of bore or stroke, doing away with all recesses or gas pockets in communication with the interior ot thc cylimler',"tlie use-0f a single cylinder port both for intake and exhaust; of a single rotary valve for controlling both the intake and exhaust; the provision of a novel form of rotary valve comprising an expanding member which will always be in close contact with the walls of its chamber,

' thus preventing all leakage of gases; and

with the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consists in the parts, improvements and combination hereinafter set forth and claimed. While I show and describe a specific form or forms in which my invention may becmbodiedyit is nevertheless to be understood that my invention is not confined to so h specific term or forms but that its scope is as setforth in the claims. In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein the same reference numerals are applied to the same parts throughout, Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitud'inal, central cross-section of a 4 cyl' inder internal combustion engine embodying iny invention. Fig. 2; is an elevational yiew of my improvedrotary valve. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of said valve on the line '33 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a crossseetional view of said valve on the line ab-4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 iso cross-sectional view on the line 5".5, Fig. 1. Fig. (3 is a detail elevational view showing one form of gearing for drin ing the rotary valve shaft from the engine shaft, and Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views showing the four cycles of the engine and the positions'of the rotary valve orresponding thereto.

My invention is applicable to engines having but a single cylinder or'to engines with any desired number ct cylinders. Each Specification of Letters Patent.

the provision Patented July 10, 1917.

Serial No. $72,195.

cylinder of an engine embodying; my invention is provided with which, for the purpose of convenient reierence. will be termed the cylinder port. This port preferably has the form of a long slot, the length of the slot being substantiall equal to the diameter of the cylinder hore. In the construction shown the cylinder port extends substantially across the head oftherylinder in a line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the crank shaft. Ample crosssectional area of the port may therefore be secured even when the port is made comparatively narrow, as its area may readily be increased by a slight increase in its width.

The valve which governs the inflow and discharge of gases through this single port, is of the type commonly known as a rotary valve, and such valve is provided withsuit able passages in its periphery to properly control the inflow of gases to the engine cylinder from the intake manifold, which is situated on one side of the rotary valve and the discharge of exhaust gases to the exhaust manifold which int-he preferable form is situated upon the opposite side of the rotary valve from the intake manifold. This 0011* struction may be readily taken advantage of in the designing of the engine as the entire valve structure and the intake and exhaust manifolds may be cdinprised within an upward continua ion of the cylinder walls, thus givingiu smooth and simple 'ex terior and very pleasing lines as-well as an extremely simple form 20f construction. Provision is preferably made for cooling the rotary valve and the manifolds by providing water passages substantially surrounding the valve chamber through which the water may pass in tuantities which will secure an ample cooling effect for these parts.

Referring to the drawings, I have designated the crank case of the engine selected for the purpose of illustration by the reference numeral 1. This crank case-has the vertical cylinders 2 formed in any well known manner secured thereto and extending in vertical direction therefrom in line with one another longitudinally of the enbut a single port 'gine. The cylinders may be cast separately or any desired number may be cast together pistons 3, 3, the connecting rods: 4. 4 and the crimk shaft 5 are of any ordinary and well known construction.

i The casting 6 containing the rotary valve and forming the cylinder head-r heads is preferably made separately from the cylinders themselves, and is so constructed as to be readily capable .of attachment to the cylinders, its 'form depending upon the method of formation and assembly of the cylinders themselves. 4

Such custingds preferably integral and is secured on top'of the open cylinders and extends the entire length of the engine and it preferably contains on one side the exhaust manifold 7' and on the opposite side the intake manifold 8. The casting ii is preferably hollowed out as shown at 9, Fig. to-forni a dome shaped head for each cylinder and the cylinder ports 10 in the form of engine llustrated extend across the entire width of the cylinder head centrally thereof and in line with the longitudinal axis of the engine. A cylindrical valve chamberll is formed centrally of the casting 6 mid extends substantially from end to end thereof, and within this cylindrical valve chamber is received the rotary valve 12 comprising the-sleeve 13 and the substantielly cylindrical core 14. The valve chamber communicates with the exhaust manifold 7 through the exhaust port 15 and with the intakeinanifold 8 through themtake port- 16. The passages within the valve for the flow of gases to and from the several. cylinders are indicated by the reference numeral 18.

The detail construction of the valve 12 is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing.'

4o-The'corc 1e1- fits within the ring or sleeve 13 and is secured thereto as for example by means of the key 19 so that core and ring or sleeve rotate together and without independent rotary movement. The passages 18 extend peripherally part way around the valve 12. the sleeve 13 being entirelyciit away in the formation of such passages andthe' passages also being preferu ily extended within the. niaterial of the core l2 somewhat. by the peripheral cutting away of a portion of such core to complete the formation of the passages. These passages 18. in the valve 12 are: arranged in such manner as to eontrol lhe inductionv and ediictiou of gases to and from the various cylinders in any of the ordinary well known methods of rotation, the cycles recurring, for instance, in the. ordinary fourrylimler type of englue, in the usual l-3-i2 order.

Provision is made for expansion and cuptraction of the valve due to the extremes of temperature to which it is necessarily subjected in the operation of the motor. not only by its formation in two parts. an inner core and an outer sleeve. but also by cutting narrow slots 20 through the material of the sleeve 13 preferably in the narrow sections thereof between adjoining passages 1.8. This provides for expansion and contraction of the sleeve in precisely the same manner as in the caselof the expansion ringswith which the engine cylinders are equipped. It. to be understood that before the conipletedvalve 12 is introduced within tl1cvvalvc i t, the tendency of the sleeve '13 is to expand outwardly and that in order to introduce the valve within the \alvc chamber it is necessary to compress the sleeve 13 upon the core l-l and that when it has been-introduced therein the lil'lllltlll') toward expansion so created results in thavalve fitting tightly within its c \-'liznh'i :al seat. The expansion of the valve produced by becoming heated in operation is taken care of by this construction so that although the valve/is at all times tightly zoo firmly received within its seat the heating of the valve will not result in its binding-or freezing within the valve chamber as sometimes occurs with valves of the ordinary rotary type when subjected to a considerabl" degree of heat. As the gases do not nne into contact with the valve except at a small portion of its periphery the valve is protee-ted from becoming overheated and the cooling of'the valve in operation is partly due to the fact't-hat after being swept by the heated gases of the exhaust the same passages are immcdiatel subjected to the cooling,' ellect of the in lowing charge; valve so constructed has ample cross-sec.- tional area in all its parts-to resist any tendency to be deformed or buckled by the heat. The arrangement of the passage 18 within the periphery 'of the valve 112 results in the valve being very cool in its up oration as compared with the former rotary valves in which it was proposed to conduct the. heated gases away through openings extending centrally of the valve, which resulted in the ,valve being greatly heated and frequently distorted. sleeve 13 atv the ends of passages 18 are under-cut, so as to leave substantially sharp knife edges 18 at these oints which greatly assist in keeping the interior of the valve chamber free of carbon and preventingthe clogging and ioulingof the valve. and valve chamber. NVhcreus-Ithcports '10,

15 and i8 cxtenil longitudinally ofthe valve chan'iher 11, their'ed es substantially forrr.-. ing elements of the noilow cylindrical surface thereof, the edge of thc passages 18 preferably extend at a slight angle to such longitudinal direction, as shown at 18' so as to prevent any catching or binding ell'cct which iiiight possibly result if the edges of the ports and passages were parallel to one another.

Any suitable form of hearing may be pro- The edges of the vided for the improved valve. I fprefer, however, to mount the valve in ball. bearings 21 at each end thereof, and which are re-* moved a sufficient distance from the engine cylinders so as not to become unduly heated. The valve structure for the entire engine being rigidly connected together, all that is needed for its operation is the provision of means for rotating the valve at proper speed applied at any point within its length. This fact is alsov conducive to simplicity of design and to the securing of a smooth exterior and it is possible to transmit motion with the required reduction of speed direct from the crank shaft to the rotary valve shaft in' a variety of ways; In order to se cure quietness of operation and extreme closeness of working the method of'transmitting rotation from the crank shaft to the valve shaft, which I have illustrated, com-- prises spiral gears 22 and 23 upon the crank shaft'and valve shaft respectively and 00- operating spiral gears 24 and 25 upon the vertical shaft 26 mounted in properly arranged bearings and extending vertically of the engine as shown in Fig. 6. i

Additional spiral or other gears such as 27, may be placed on the vertical shaft 26 at any point within its length to operate devices connected directly or indirectly with the engine such as a. pump, magneto or the like as shown on Fig. 1. Such driven shaft may extend horizontallyacross the engine thus permitting the mounting of the pump and magneto or timer in positions where the same will be conveniently accessible. If

desired an oil pump may be operated from.

the spiral gear 22 through the gear 28. I prefer to arrange the vertical shaft 26 at the end of the engine opposite the fly wheel and to provide a cover late 29 therefor, this making theseparts ust proof, giving the engine a smooth exterior and silencing the gears andfshaft for driving the rotary valve and at the same time being readily removable to permit access when necessary. Means for preventing longitudinal movement' of the valve 12 are provided, such means may take the form of a thrust bearing 30 as shown in Fig. 1.

The spark plugs or other ignition devices for my im'proved engine are preferably inserted in orifices provided for that purpose immediately beneath the intake manifold and extending at an angle of about=45 'to the vertical as is clearly shownin Fig. 5. Suitable openings 31 are'provided at the upper portion of the valve chamber llfor the purpose of supplying lubricating oil to the valve 12. Oil is preferably fed to this valreby means of a force feed, so that an ample suaply of oil at all times is assured, the sup ')ly being delivered at the' highest point of the valve, which distributes the oil entirely around the "alve chamber as it is rdtated- The cored out water spaces 32. which are provided within the castingliand which substantially surround the valve. structure on all sides are of sufficient dimension to carry an ample supply of water to prevent the over heating of the valve at all times. The provision for water supply is preferably increased somewhat on the exhaust side of the engine as this side is likely to be considerably hotter than the intake side.

In order to prevent the hottest portion of the engine exhaust from reaching the valve 12, I. prefer to provide an auviliary exhaust port 33, which is opened by the over-running of the piston. Inclinedvanes or flanges 3 4, are provided in order to secure a suction effect in connection with the auxiliary exhaust and to dispense with the necessity of check valves or other means for prevei'lting back pressure.

The operation of my improved engine will} be apparent from the foregoing, particu larly when considered in connection with the diagrammatic views of Figs. 710. As

shown in these figures the direction of rota tionof the valve 12 is anti-clockwise or in the opposite direction to the motion of the crank shaft which rotates in a clockwise direction, the relative speeds of rotation being of course as 1 to 2. This relative direction of rotation of course depends upon which side of the engine is selected to contain the exhaust and intake manifolds res ectively. In Fig. 7 the iston is shown at the top of its stroke, at t 1e moment when the exhaust through the manifold 7 has ceased and the intake through the manifold 8 is to begin. As the piston travels downward the valve .12 rotates in the direction of the arrow at the top of Fi 7 and the intake of the gas from the mani old 8 is continued until the piston reaches the bottom of the stroke or just past the bottom of the stroke, at which point the communication from the intake manifold 8 to the interior of the cylinder is closed, the v close the ports b travel across them in the a direction of their Width and as the slots being very long may be made relatively very narrow, the opening and closing of the valves is accomplished in, a. minimum of time, and as the valve is opened and closed about the times that the pistons-are at their extreme top or bottom positions and the vertical component of their movement'is relatively very small itresults that the valves are entirely opened or entirely closed within times corresponding to aneiicess'ively small vertical movement of the pistons; It will of course be understood that the degree to which the passage l8is extended around the valve 12 and the precise relative angularpositions of the ports 10, 15-and 16, may be varied within certain limits in order to roduce the most effective results, depen ing engine is to be operated.

It will be apparent that in addition to the I numerous advantageous features already set out, engines constructed in accordance with my invention are extremely quiet in operation and the moving parts thereof being very few, in number and provided with ample bearin surfaces scarcely any wear is Emg intervals sothat the quietness of operation remains even after a long periodof use.

Having now described my invention I claim: 1. A rotary valve for internal combustion motors of generally cylindrical form and sages, the edges of said passages forming angle with the elements of the cylindrical valve, substantially as set forth.

2. A- rotary valve for internal combustion motors comprising a massive central core and an expansion sleeve surrounding said core and connected thereto so as to rotate therewith, said valve being provided with gas passages extending entirely through said sleeve and for a distance about the peripherv of the valve but not extending to any substantial distance within the material of the core, substantially as set forth.

3. In an internal combustion motor, a cylinder, a cylihdrical valve casing communicating withsaid cylinder by a single port and provided with inlet and exhaust ports. a solid massive rotary valve in said casing,

said valve being provided with a peripheral gas passage, an edge of said passage makin a sharply acute angle with the elementa lines of the cylindrical valve, substantially 

